The Weight of Elephants

The pressures of the ephemeral adolescent years can be painfully oppressive. What may seem trivial to an adult may wreak emotional havoc in a child. Head lice, absent parents, and cruel intimidation at school afflict 11-year-old Adrian’s psyche.

Adrian is fascinated with constant TV footage of three children who were abducted in a nearby town. The news is a welcome escape from his own isolated life. The only adult he can remotely identify with is his ill Uncle Rory, who is too unstable to be kept around, and the only potential friend he had betrays him to join the group of bullies that torment him daily. His anguish intensifies after he gets the attention he so desperately wants, but at the cost of continuing the brutality toward the only one at school less popular than he, a girl who thinks she is a horse. Some relief is found when a mysterious family moves in next door. Adrian suspects that the children may be the ones missing on TV because Nicole, the girl his age, does not go to school and fits the description. They forge a Bridge to Terebithia-style bond, which in turn alleviates their fears of abandonment.

Told completely from the perspective of the youth, this New Zealand/Denmark co- production exemplifies director Daniel Joseph Borgman’s interest in themes of loss of innocence and isolation. Many of the children were non-actors cast from the surrounding Southland area, resulting in honest performances, and the prominent rabbit and crystal imagery parallels Adrian’s fragility in his quest for acceptance.

For information on group rates and community partnerships please contact Dominic Smith at dominic@denverfilm.org

You might also enjoy...

Singapore
,
2013
,
99 min.
Recipient of the Camera d’Or prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Anthony Chen’s assured first feature depicts the day-to-day drama of a middle-class Singapore family and their live-in Filipina maid. Ilo Ilo is as heartfelt as it is quietly devastating... more

Denmark
,
2013
,
102 min.
The Internet has transformed interpersonal relationships, from meeting to cheating. We are accessible 24/7, yet may not be present in the moment to make the correct choices. People require human contact, but are we the same online as we are In Real Life?... more

Canada
,
2013
,
97 min.
Offered a running scholarship at a top university, Sarah ditches her unsupportive mom and moves away to college with her friend Antoine. The pair decide to marry to qualify for benefits, but Sarah has only one passion: to run. Chloe Robichaud’s film debuted at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival... more

Czech Republic
,
2012
,
110 min.
Residing with her persecuted New Age parents on the outskirts of a rural village, pubescent, nymph-like Anyna forges a relationship with a local ranger. Set in a semi-fantastical forest, the enchanting To the Woods is a comic celebration of Bohemia’s surviving flora and fauna... more